Reviews by Boilermaker88:

I picked up a couple bottles of North Coast's 25th Anniversary special release when I stopped in at the Pasadena Whole Foods. Each caged and corked 500ml bottle was $5.95. Glassware of choice was a DeKoninck chalice.
Very attractive brew here. Cloudy golden color, lots of fine carbonation, and a thick bright white head that had all the consistancy of whipped egg whites.
Slightly sour wet grass, herbal hops, and musty, moldy old lemons hit the nose first, last and in between. Not very much sweetness here.
Definite hops bittering here, moreso than in other saisons I've tried. Mild fruit flavors are brushed aside quickly by the slightly soured grain and spicy coriander bite. The feel is medium-bodied, lush and velvety from all that carbonation.
All in all, this seemed like a hopped-up BSPA as the funkiness I've come to associate with the style was not as noticeable. Still, it's nice to see another American brewer try their hand at the style. Worth a try.

More User Reviews:

Poured a milky yellow/straw with a huge fluffy white head that left sheets of lace behind as it took its time settling,bigtime orange aromas along with some lemon and Belgian yeast.Fruit flavors abound orange pith and lemon oil and spicey/clovey yeastiness and that Belgian style funk wich becomes more prevalent the more I drink.A very nice true to style American saison even better than many Belgian counterparts,very drinkable and refreshing wish I had more.

Appearance  This ale is a glow-in-the-dark florescent orange in color with a beautiful head that left a nice pool of foam in the center of my chalice.

Smell  Ah, big farmhouse at the nose. The tart, rotted yeast is tangy and equally mixed with some explosive fruits. You can almost taste the lime, peach, and tangerine just by smelling this beer. The malts are reserved but provide structure to this excellent bouquet.

Taste  Wow! How did I miss these big spices at the nose? The saffron and coriander are huge, almost powdery, as is the darkish notes like maybe some allspice. The fruits step back at the taste, and its not nearly as sour as I thought it would be. This is tight.

Mouthfeel  This one is a solid medium-bodied with live but reserved carbonation and maybe a bit too much chalkiness for the inexperienced drinker.

Drinkability  I had a couple of hours of cooking to do when I popped this baby, and it was a real treat to sip while slaving over a hot oven. North Coast does it again!

This was a very promising but ultimately problematic beer. Initial appearance, the first 4 ounces, was a beautiful florescent yellow straw with lovely effervescence and a bubbly white head. The rest of the bottle was a mud brown sludge of yeast. Utterly flat, powdery drain pourage.

Mouthfeel: The early sips were light, bubbly, crisp, and pleasurable. The final ¾ of the bottle was cement like, heavy, garbage.

Drinkability: First glass = 4, second, third, forth = 1

Obviously a bad bottle but not the result of pour storage, either at the shop or in my home. I left the bottle upright in the fridge for more than two weeks without any disturbance and was careful when opening and pouring. There was simply too much yeast in the bottle, a flaw I can only attribute to the brewer and therefore feel comfortable reviewing this sample. Still, I will rate this brew based upon the first glass and not the latter three.

Medium sized bottle, caged and corked, w/o freshness indication. $7.99 at WFMarket in Greenwich, Ct. Expensive brew, from an expensive store in an expensive town...oh well at least its good stuff...pours light yellowy golden, white head, clear, until the final yeasty pour. Minor lacing. Lemony, horseblanket, funky nose. Pleasantly tart brew, notes of lemon, pepper, more barnyard funk. Nice stuff. complex and tasty, more peppery dryness in the finish. Nicely done, I'd love to try this stuff on tap! Would be great with BBQ or other spicy/flavorful food.

Pours golden color with lots of white head. Head seems to last. Smells of citrusy sourness and hops. Complex taste, a lot of things I can't really identify. Definatly a yeasty flavor, not as much tartness as the aroma would lead you to believe. LIght mouthfeel with lots of carbonation. It finishes with a bitter hop bite. I really like this, it may be a little tame for a Belgian Farmhouse ale, but its quite good. This is a great summertime beer, I could drink several of these if not for the cost.

Mellows a bit as it warms in the glass, but this is still a strange brew. It combines the citrus of a wit with some of the character of a tripel. Carbonation is a bit too high for my tastes, but the flavors are unique and interesting.

I saw this a few months ago at Whole Foods. Not recognizing it I picked it up and checked it out. A saison from North Coast? How have I not heard of this. Oh, because it was made special for Whole Foods. Ok, I'll fucking try it.

Nice lather tops the golden color ale. The aroma is of lemons, honey and Belgian yeast. The flavor is champagne like with a subtle citrus tang and a slight hop bitter. I quite enjoy it. It seems like this would pair well with many types of food - no surprise for a Whole Foods commissioned saison.

This poured to a fantastic bright gold with a big head that lasted very well. A single massive ring of lace was left behind.

The smell is strong, but of light flavors like pale malts and some spices. The taste has some lemon and citrus, but those flavors are minor here. Other esters and light malts take center stage. The mouthfeel is fairly pleasing, while drinkability is high.

Looks highly carbonated as bubbles rise through the amber orange glow. Head is giant and fluffy. The big white Belgian looking head leaves behind sticky, entertaining lace. Retention is good and bubbly. Nose is full of crazy fruits and spicy wacky Belgian yeast. Plenty of farmhouse-like aromas. Grassy lemon and lime, hay and flowers with an occasional interesting berry-like grape flavor. Soft hidden maltiness holds the aromas together somewhat. Taste is full of fruit, spice and yeast with a bitter, mild alcohol kick. Lemons and limes again as well. Mouthfeel is grainy and textured with pointy carbonation.

For my second glass I pour the yeast in. I can barely see through it this time around and flavor actually seems to smooth together more with the added yeast. Nose has even more bready insane fruits. I think I prefer the yeast in but its hard to say for sure. Drinkabillity either way is high.

This pours a beatiful golden yellow with a giant white foamy head and a ton of carbonation. The smell is of bakers sugar, yeast,coriander, and lemon. The taste is coriander, yeast,hops, pepper,lemon, with a bitter aftertaste. The m/f is light with a good mixing of flavors. A very good Belgian. I would recomend this beer to anyone, and especially someone who had 2 bottles!!

Sunny, smogged-over golden, inching slightly towards mustard. The stark white head is modest in height, but impressive in staying prowess.
Lemon pith and oatmeal aroma, tossed with mites of bretty leather saddle funk and drying hay bales.
As it glides gently past the teeth, it manifests first with ideations of lemon-poppyseed muffins, spiderwebbed with spun sugar and dried honey. It begins its descent towards dryness immediately. The malt hues tend now towards shortbread and saltine crackers with a certain pils bent. Lemon never leaves, but loses the fruitiness and marches into a rind-like bitterness. Yeast adds a dried leather and slatey brett nuance, as a ménage of herbs swell up; sweet basil, rosemary, cilantro, white peppercorn, and thyme. Hops drive home the finish as though they are covering Saison DuPont's greatest hits, as it is all brittle grass, hay, dead leaves, pressed bitter flowers-- generally, just an amalgamation of urgent, snapping desiccated flora.
Medium bodied percolated through a steadfast bead. This drinks with no hint of strength, as it balances its equally thirst-slaking and thirst-inducing qualities, thus confounding the brain into compulsive gulps.
Entirely impressive. It is original enough to stand on its own, and traditional in that it brings DuPont immediately to mind.
And this is a supermarket brew? I'm not sure I've had a better U.S. version of a Saison...actually, I am sure I haven't and would go as far as to say this stacks up with many of the better homeland versions.
"Holy shit" seems appropriate. I was blindsided here.

people say this is now Le Merle. What I am drinking is a very good farmhouse ale that is aged about three years. There is a little bit of lace and a sweet spicey rather than a not good smelling yeasty ale. The mouthfeel is a little spicey sharp above average and the taste is spicey and oh so drinkable. The carbonation is apparent only later in under-the-surface gas.

I was able to pick this up at the Whole Foods on University Avenue in Madison, Wisconsin for just $4.99; what a find! Had I known it was as good as it is I'd have taken 4 more!

It poured a hazy orange body beneath a creamy head of bright white. While I pulled up the site to review it, the head rose up out of the glass! Once subsided, after a few sips and several minutes, it maintained a thin, cottony surface covering; and left behind walls of very thick lace! If it had been slightly clearer it could have earned a 5 for appearance.

The delicate nose offered an initial burst of spiciness, followed by earthy, mineralish, and grassy notes over a dull fruitiness that combined orange marmalade, soft melon, and kiwi into one tempting bouquet.

In the mouth it initially bristled, but soon became softer and more lush as its carbonation eroded. Delicate tingles tickled the tongue, followed by a gentle caress across the palate. Medium bodied with a dextrinous edge. Very nice!

The flavor offered far more than the aroma suggested, with a bit of spice upfront before it warmed to reveal its fruitiness and candy-like sweetness. There were notes of apple, white grape, papaya, dull tangerine, and melon. Some very nice, wet-straw like character appeared, and a bit of dusty, chalky, mineral-like character. It bordered on becoming musty but never did. A flicker of alcohol occassionally crossed the palate, but always felt appropriate. Beneath it a solid bitterness kept it in check, rising in the finish along with peppery spiciness. Dull tropical fruit lingered in the aftertaste.

Beautifully done! Powerful but wholly refined... kind of like a beautiful race car with graceful feminine lines outside, and a powerful, precision racing engine within. If I didn't know where it came from, I could also totally believe that it was Belgian. Nicely done! Well worth seeking out before it's gone.

Pours a bright, slightly cloudy golden hue topped by a huge, stiff white head. Nose is rather spicy, with notes of coriander, allspice, and black pepper, along with some sharp, spicy Eurpoean hops and appealing Belgian yeast. Palate is a bit sweet up front, with light fruit and maybe some confectioner's sugar. Gears shift towards the back of the mouth, where some bitterness takes over from the hops. Notes of orange peel, coriander, black pepper, and grass are present. Ample carbonation provides a nice body, but its lacking in the velvety mouthfeel I really look for in a tripel. Still, a nice effort from a great West Coast brewery.

This one is all about the yeast. From smell to taste to finish the yeast really stood out. NIce color ans the head was well laced and settled reasonably. Poured into a brandy snifter and enjoyed the yeast aroma; bread like but not overpowering. The mouth feel was also dominated by the yeast, it really stuck with you. Nice sour flavor with a hint of alcohol on the finish. Good beer to try and would certaily drink it agian if convient, but nothing to go out of my way to get.

Pours a hazy golden yellow with a nice thick and rocky white head. Aroma is very fruity with pineapple, tangerine, apple and lemon, as well as some grassy and mineraly hops and a clean toasted bread character. The taste is striking and complex, with notes of pineapple, lemon, tangerine and apple , grassy and floral hops, white pepper and corriander, and toasted bread. A remarkable saison, complex and beguiling this is an incredible beer.

A good quality change up beer with good balance and a manly smooth and grainy finish, can be a session beer for some.

Note (minutes later): After reading the other reviews I'll acknowledge the cashiers interest in the beer as he showed other employees the label, yes this is in celebration of Whole Foods twenty fifth year. He told me this was the first time he had seen the this product.

I must admit that i have yet to find a Saison (aside from the allagash interlude, which really isn't a saison) that i've liked. i am a victim of a distaste for the style...

that being said, i sort of liked this. it was much more mellow than other saison's i have tried, which is a positive for me, but i think lover's of the style would be disappointed. big gold with a huge head. smell is tart with yeast, apples, lemon, and honey. taste is similar, with a bit of a hop character. medium bodied. effervescent like champagne. good drinkability - killed the bottle without too much trouble.

Silver Jubilee (Belgian-style Farmhouse Ale) is best served at perfect cellar temperatures (45-50F) from a short stemmed tulip or small goblet to truly enjoy all of the wondererful aromatics. This organic American Saison was brewed specifically for Whole Foods Markets. It pours up a just a bit short on carbonation, but manages to create an enviting tight whitish head with a mirage of bubbles that sits atop a slightly cloudy, sunset-burnt orange body. The wonderfully aromatic bouquet shows some significant peppercorn spiciness along with plenty of tropical fruitiness reminiscent of freshly cut pineapples. The underlying wheat berry maltiness is ever present and becomes more evident as this one warms to room temperature. The flavor starts-off very light and zesty with a nice underlying spiciness from the yeast and the American influenced bitterness. The finish is quick, spritzy, and lightly alcoholic. This medium-bodied anniversary ale is decidedly drinkable with a quaffable nature. This is certainly a "must try" for any Americano-Belgie beer lovers if you can find a bottles left on the store shelf or trade a BA for one. My hope is that we'll see another appearance of this finely crafted ale fom the North Coast!

Pours a surprisingly clear orange gold with a medium off-white head. The foam subsides to leave a thin film with a collar and nice lacing. A few big chunks of sediment. Smells strongly vinous with some sour cherry; so dominant it's hard to pick out anything else except for a bit of brown sugar. The malt really comes forward upon tasting, with some lightly roasted flavors. The fruit esters are still strong, mingling with some light funk. Bittering hops finish out. Nice, balanced, and complex. Very decent saison.

Pours out a very bright and clear brass with some moderate bubble action and a whipped egg white head that leaves quite a bit of busy lace. Nose has a crackery maltiness with quite a bit of cracked grain. Has some harsh phenols/esters/whatever. Flavor is rather light in the malt, which gives off a dry graininess along with a bit o' honey. There's a bright acidity that shows up in the middle which lasts to the dry finish. Finish also has a bit of bitterness that seems just a bit muddy. Hop flavor is vaguely floral and earthy. Esters lean towards overripe mango, papaya, and pineapple. Would be good with food. Mouthfeel is very effervescent and light. Good drinkability. I like this a lot better with 3 years on it than I did when it was fresh (when it was an overly sweet, overly estery mess with lord-knows-what in it).

Aroma is sharp, citrric, fruity and mildly funky. Rich yellow/orange in color with a firm thumb thick white head. Fore is very citrusy with strong bannana and yeast flavors following and it finishes fruity/bitter like grapefruit rind. I rather like this attempt at a Saison even though at times it almost has a Hefeweisee feel to it.

I decided to take a chance on this beer as North Coast tends to brew excellent brews- although I think it's expensive. Poured wonderfully, with nice white head- you can tell this beer is well made. A very strong grassy smell as well as taste is almost overpowering at first. But when you let is mellow at room temperature, so does the beer. The longer it sits,the more citrus flavor is pronounced. An exceptionally dry beer. Overall very nice. I don't know if I could drink this on a regular basis, but certianly a good change of pace for me.